Making couplings and similar objects



June 9, 1925. 1,541,061

-T. E. MURRAY MAKING COUPLINGS AND SIMILAR OBJECTS Filed May 26, 1922ATTORNEY. v v

Patented June 9, 1925.

UNITED" STATES THOMAS MURRAY, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MAKING COUPLINGS AND SIMILAR OBJECTS.

Application filed May 26, '1922. Serial No. 563,943,

To all whom if may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS-Ill. MURRAY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Brooklyn, Kings county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Making Couplings and SimilarObjects, of which the following is a specification.

My invention aims to provide a method of producing couplings, TS andvarious other tubular and similar articles, and producing a plurality ofsuch articles in a single operation.

In a previous patent of Thomas E. Murray No. 1,350,829 and a previousapplication Serial No. 509,938 it has been proposed to make a pluralityof couplings or like tubular objects by first forming a series ofsegments, such as semi-cylinders, connected to each other end to end,uniting said segments alon their side edges to form the complete tires,and then destroying or removing the end connections. According to the-present method the blank is bent in such a way as to form a pluralityof tubular articles alongside of each other, instead of end to end as inthe aforesaid patent and 1 application, and the edges of the articlesthus formed are then welded; and, assuming that they are to beseparated, the connecting web between them is removed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the method of forming two short tubes forcouplings;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a similar operation;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the making of two Ts;

F ig. 4 is a similar view illustrating the making of two condulets;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectlonal View through the branches ofthe Ts ofFig. 3

or the condulets of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an elevation illustrating the application of the process tothe progressive manufacture and assembly of the links of a chain.

Referring to the embodiments of the invention illustrated, and firstt-o,Fig. 1,. a sheet of steel or other metal is bent in such a way astoprovide a pair of tubes 1 along sideof each other and connected by meansof a web 2. The ends 3 of the blank are brought around opposite to thebeginnings of the tubes so as to provide a tube with a continuousintegral wall and with a single seam or joint when the end 3 is weldedto the edge 4 opposite it.

The welding may be accomplished in a variety of ways and negativeelectrodes 5 and 6, between which the blank is pressed so as to bringthe edges 3 into contact with the edges 4 and to hold them there underpressure while a current is passed preferably of high amperage and ofbrief duration.

I The blank, of which one end only is shown in Fig. 1, may extend forany desired length;

and instead of a single pair of tubes 1 there A may be a number of suchpairs of tubes in line connected end to end as in my previousapplication above referred to.

The method illustrated gives an increased output compared with thatdescribed in the previous patent and application together with of abetter distribution of the current to the points where the welding is totake place. The electrodes enter in part between the two tubes, and thetwo joints to be made are close together. posed edges 3 and 4c of eachoint are integrally connected to each other, around the circumference ofthe tube, so that there is little or no tendency for the edges 3 and 4.-to be displaced with relation to each other. The web 2 is partiallyseparated from the edges 4 of the tubes by notches 7 which facilitatetheremoval of it cleanly after the welding operation and whichfacilitate the making of a good joint between the edges 3 and In Fig. 21have shown each of the tubes into which the sheet is first bent, in theform of a series of tubular sections 1*, 1*, etc. connected together attheir" ends by means of webs 8; which are to be removed after thewelding operation. The electrode 6 is shown extending continuously underthe entire length of such series of tubes, and it will be understoodthat the upper electrode 5 is similarly extended.

In referring to Fig. 1 it was contemplated that the web 2 should becontinuous throughout its length. In Fig. 2 a modification in thisrespect is illustrated, the web being divided into short sections 2 bysuitably perforating the blank before bending it. In this way the metalwhich has to be removed after the, welding operation is reduced inamount.

I have illustrated positive I At the same time the op greaterreliability in operation because Fig. 3 shows the application of theinvention to the making of TS. Here the blank is bent into the shapeshown to form a pair of tubes 9 with tubular branches extending sidewisetherefrom. As shown in Fig. 5 each of the tubular branches comprises alower half and an upper half 11, and the lower halves of such branchesare connected by a part 12, the dimensions of which I have indicated bydotted lines and which consti-- tutes a web or connection similar tothat shown at 2 and 9 in the previous figures.

The lower electrode 6 is shown fitting the bottom and inner sides of thetubes 9 and fitting the parts 10 of the intermediate branches; and itwill be understood that the upper electrode 5 is ofthe same shapeinverted. 'lVlien the clectrodesare pressed to gether and the currentpassed the tubes 9 will be welded along the edges 3 and 4:, and thebranches 10 and 11, will be welded along the edges 13 and 14. Thereafterby cutting out the part 12 we will have a pair of complete Ts. Theprinciple of extension lengthwise, to produce a multiplicity of Tsconnected end to end, as illustrated in Fig.2, may be extended equallyto the Ts-of Fig. 3; and also to the condulets of Fig. 4: de scribedbelow. r

The condulets of Fig. consist of lengthwise tubes 15, connected byoblong branches made up of upper portions16 and correspondingly shapedloweriportions similar to the parts 10 of Fig. 5 with an integral connection which, after welding of the joints of the longitudinal tubes andthe lateral branches. are removed to leave two separate and distinctcondulets.

The invention is applicable not only to cylindrical tubes as indicatedin the above figures but also to closed figures of various other shapesthan circles, and to various other materials than sheetmetal. Forexample, the method is shown in Fig. 6 applied to the making of oblonglinks-17 of a chain made preferably of round rods of steel or iron orother metal. By this method the links are progressively assembled asthey are made. The two links shown.complete at 17 are connected by ablank or rod shaped as shown to form two incomplete links 18 connectedby a web of metal 19. The ends 3 and- 4 of the blanks are then pressedtogether between the positive and negative electrodes 20 and 21 and awelding current passed to make two joints. Thereafter the connecting web19 is removed, the two links 18, now completed, areseparated and theoperation is repeated with a new blank connecting these two links.

The parts produced by the method above described may be subjected toother operations either before or after the welding and separatingoperations described; and various modifications in detail may beeffected in the method itself and in the shapes of the blanks. Forexample, as described in my previous application above referred to, theparts which are meant for couplings may be threaded before welding andthey may be welded along only portions of the joint in some cases.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail certainembodiments of my invention, .yet it is not to be understood therefromthat the invention is restricted to the particular embodimentsdisclosed. Various modifications thereof in detail and in the steps ofthe-process maybe made by those skilled inthe art without departing fromthe invention as defined in the following claims.

WYhat I claim isp I 1. The method of making tubular articles whichconsists inbending opposite edges of a blank to meet the blank atintermediate points so as to form two of such articles con-- nectedalongside of each other. welding said edges to the intermediate pointsof the blank and separating the articles thus formed.

2. The method of making tubular articles which consists in bendingopposite edges of a blank to meet the blank at intermediate points soasto form two of such articles connected by a web extending sidewisetherefrom, welding the edges to the intermediate portions of the blankand removing said web. 3. The method of making tubular articles whichconsists in bending up sheet metal to provide two tubular members heldtogether alongside of and parallel to each other with the registeringedges of each tubular member adjacent to the other tubular member.pressing together the edges of each of said tubular members, passing awelding current between such edges to form two complete tubular memberswith welded edges and separating the same from each other.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

THOMAS E. MURRAY

